When Aaron Sorkin, the preeminent screenwriter of political drama (see The West Wing, The American President or A Few Good Men for proof) scripts a film about a covert Congressional and CIA effort to support the Afghan mujahideen in their battles against the Soviet Union in the 1980s, you take notice. When the film stars Academy Award winners Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Academy Award nominee Amy Adams and is directed by Mike Nichols - himself a five-time nominee (and winner for The Graduate) - you have a movie with a pedigree.

Charlie Wilson's War details a communist-hating Texas congressman's spearheading of an effort to fund the CIA's arming of Afghanis rebelling against the Soviet Union. Perfectly cast for Sorkin's dialogue are Hanks as Wilson, Roberts as a wealthy fundraiser, and Hoffman as the lead CIA agent. The film follows Wilson as he first learns about the Soviet oppression in Afghanistan, secures secret Congressional funding and arms the rebels.